Tattle tale
by Padfoot57
Summary: When drugs are found on the lab property, poor Rick has to deal with it.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own CSI Miami etc. etc.**

**And also, I tend to change timelines up a little. **

Rick sat at his desk, doing paperwork and listening to the chatter coming from the bull pen. He was ready for his lunch break, but wanted to get through the pile in front of him. He sipped on a Red Bull and hastily scribbled things down.

"Rick." He looked up at Michelle, his middle aged, but attractive supervisor. She threw a bag down on his desk. "Do you know what that is?"

"Yes." Rick sighed and looked at the burned roach.

"It was found down at the crime lab."

"Where?"

"On the back steps."

"Who had the balls to tattle?"

"I can't tell you that."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Go get urine samples from everyone."

"But-"

"No buts. You can find cups down in the booking area, and have Lowman run tox."

"Aye aye captain." Rick drawled as she left his office. He put his head down on his desk before summoning the will to get up and walk out. He headed down to the crime lab and dreaded the chewing out he would receive. After finding enough cups he walked into the lab area and called for every one of the techs.

"What is this about Rick?" Horatio was the first to walk up to him.

"Someone found a roach on the steps out back and it is my duty to get everyone to pee." Rick sighed.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry." Rick shrugged. "Boss's orders."

"I thought you were the boss."

"If I were the boss I would be out eating lunch right now."

"Good point." Horatio sighed as Rick handed him a cup. "Listen up. Everyone get a cup, go into the bathroom and pee."

"What for?" Eric asked, clearly nervous.

"Mandatory." Stetler growled and whisked him, Ryan, Jesse, Walter, and a few others into the bathroom. "Is Kyle here?" Rick asked Horatio quietly.

"It couldn't have been his." Horatio shook his head.

"Okay." Rick nodded, and decided not to test Kyle. It might get him in trouble later, but Horatio was his friend, sort of. Stetler sighed as the grumbles continued to echo in the bathroom. He was glad when everyone finished and he could walk down to the morgue. He didn't know Lowman well, and was glad when he didn't ask too many questions.

He watched Kyle assist with an autopsy for two hours before he got all of the test results back.

Horatio Caine: Clean.

Calliegh Duquesne: Clean.

Ryan Wolfe: Oxycontin. Antibiotics.

Eric Delko: Low THC Level.

Natalia Boa Vista: Something I can't pronounce let alone read.

Maxine Valera: Clean.

Walter Simmons: Clean.

Jesse Cardoza: Antidepressant. That can't be good.

"Kyle." Rick called to the teenager.

"Yes sir?" he asked timidly after coming to the door.

"I'm Rick Stetler, IA." He said and they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you."

"Same to you. If I gave you a drug test would you pass?" Rick asked and laughed at his deer-in-the-headlights look.

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"It's alright, I wouldn't pass either." Rick chuckled darkly. "Alright, you can get back to work. And don't tell your dad."

"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson about being a nark."

"I bet you have." Rick nodded as he left. He put his face in his hands and went upstairs to interrogate.

**So what do you think?**

**Please give me some feedback, I might write a few more chapters. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Thank you SA Elizabeth and Merrymatryoshka for the reviews. **

Rick walked down through the bright halls and looked for the two men he wanted to speak with. He saw Eric in one of the rooms and Ryan was across the hall. He pointed to Delko and then Ryan and gestured to the conference room. He saw the two take a deep breath and collect themselves before joining him in the hall. They said nothing and walked into the door Rick held open.

He shut the door and closed all the blinds before speaking.

"I will only say this once. The only reason I will not have your asses arrested or suspended is because you are too valuable to this team." He looked between the two. "Don't do drugs on the property. Do not come to work with them, or smell like them. What I have to do to keep you out of trouble could get me fired." Rick said and glanced as someone tapped on the door. He let Horatio inside. "I do not want my boss to find out, so don't speak a word to anyone else, got it?"

They nodded.

"Good. Get clean." He walked out and Horatio followed him down to the morgue.

"What did you tell them?" Horatio asked.

"It doesn't matter." Rick said.

"Can I see the results?"

"Sure, why not." Stetler shrugged and watched as he read through the papers.

"What in the world showed up in Natalia's test?"

"I was hoping you knew."

"Never heard of it."

"Huh." Rick hummed.

"Did you talk to her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Do you want me to?"

"I see your point." Horatio pursed his lips.

"I have to get back to IA. But first I need to clear their names." Rick with a tone in his voice that Horatio understood but didn't want to accept.

"Why can't you do it?"

"I won't pass a drug test," Rick snorted. "At least I don't think I will."

"Why not?"

"I had a Super Bowl party, and someone passed something around." Rick shrugged.

"Something?"

"I was drunk, I don't know everything that went on."

"Oh Rick." Horatio groaned. "Didn't you get that out of your system in college?"

"Growing up is overrated."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Now that I have gotten going on this meant-to-be one shot, I am installing a third chapter. It will take on a more serious tone. **

**Possible spoilers for season 9. Sorry about the generality.**

Horatio sat with Rick in his office; doing paperwork on the recent drug tests. Rick absentmindedly watched people work through the glass of the office's walls. He tapped on the wood of Horatio's desk and earned himself a solid slap on the wrist.

"Ouch." the sergeant complained.

"Don't annoy me." Horatio grunted without looking up. Rick studied some recent wounds on his knuckles.

"Did you get in a fight recently?" Rick asked.

"It's none of your business," Horatio said and gave him a pointed glare with his steely blue eyes.

"I'm just concerned."

"Don't be."

"Horatio-"

"Shut. Up."

"One of these days, you won't be able to snake your way out of a lawsuit. I know what you have been doing."

"I told you to shut up."

"It's dangerous Horatio. You're going to end up in a jail cell."

"Rick."

"And you won't last three hours."

"SHUT UP!" Horatio yelled and his voice reverberated off the walls. People down below looked up in concern but hastily went about their business. Rick swallowed a little bit.

"You know it is true."

"Get out. I'll send someone to your office with the paperwork." Stetler nodded, not wanting to anger him farther. He walked out of the office and shut the door behind him. He walked down the hall and got several curious glances. He met Kyle in the reception area.

"What did you do?" Kyle asked.

"I pressed him about something. Don't worry about it." Rick said gently. "Are you going home?"

"Yeah, but my dad is supposed to take me home."

"You don't have a car?"

"No."

"I have an old 88 Corvette convertible. My neighbor dropped it at my house when he moved last month. I think it only needs a new alternator and it will run. You want to help me out with it?"

"Sure."

"If we can make it run, you can have it."

"Really?"

"Yep; I have no use for it. Do you want to work on it this weekend?"

"That would be great."

"Great." Rick nodded. They walked down into the cool garage and to Rick's Lincoln Imperial.

"This looks like something Al Capone would drive." Kyle said.

"This car is too good for Al Capone." Rick took Kyle to his house before driving to the an auto parts store and got the right parts for the car.

000000

Later in the week Rick drove Kyle to his house out in the glades. He lived in two story Victorian style home. It had a wrap around porch, a small barn and a garage off near the barn. At the top of the hill a tree had grown through the shell of an old Ford truck. A few horses stood out in the pasture along with several dogs. The dogs leapt up as they stepped out of the car and surrounded it.

"They won't hurt you," Rick told Kyle as the dogs sniffed him curiously. The two stepped onto the porch and went inside. Kyle stayed downstairs as Rick went up to the second floor to change. He walked through the living room and examined the paintings and other works of art and antiques on the wall. A Blunderbuss hung over the fireplace along with a buck's head. He counted the points, 15.

The would creaked as Rick walked around on the second floor. A cat rubbed Kyle's ankles as he stopped to examine a photograph on an oak shelf. Three men sat together on their motorcycles. The one in the middle had long red hair. The other two had darker hair. The red head looked a lot like his dad, but quite a few years younger.

Kyle jumped a little as Rick appeared back down stairs in jeans and a t-shirt.

"The one in the middle is your dad. That's me on the right and Mac on the left." he said.

"You were friends?"

"Yes, believe it or not."

"Who is Mac?"

"He's an ex marine, right now he is the lieutenant of the New York police department." he said and walked over and stood beside him. "We all went to college together. I think this picture was taken in '82."

"Why aren't you friends anymore?"

"People change," Rick shrugged. Kyle wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"How so?"

"Time takes a toll I guess." The two walked off the porch and across the lawn to Rick's garage. He turned on the light and illuminated the covered Corvette. A Harley stood in the corner, along with a few benches full of tools. He pulled the cover off of the car and shook the dusk from the canvas.

"It's gorgeous," Kyle laughed and walked around the cherry red sports car.

"You like it? The owner also had the interior reupholstered about ten years ago." Kyle opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. While he looked over everything inside, Rick opened the hood and took out the drained battery. He replaced it within a few minutes with a new battery.

"What did you say to make my dad mad earlier?" Kyle pried.

"Nothing."

"Come on Rick."

"You don't need to worry about it."

"Is it about his knuckles?"

"What do you know about it?"

"I work in the morgue, I know fight wounds when I see them."

"I have a theory."

"I think you know what he did."

"You aren't going to let up on me are you?"

"No. Tell me your 'theory."

"He has a bad temper." Rick said and took a long pause as he fiddled with the engine.

"And?"

"He... he likes to... kick suspects' asses."

"Is that legal?"

"No. But he scares them so bad they won't dare tell a soul what happened to them."

Kyle didn't speak for a little while.

"He never talks about his childhood." Kyle said after a while. "He avoids it. Even when I ask."

"I don't think I'm at liberty to talk about that."

"Why not?"

"It's just a deep personal matter for him. We were friends at one point, and we did tell each other everything."

"I understand." Kyle nodded. In two hours the two replaced the alternator and did a little re wiring before trying to start the car. The engine sputtered a little bit before all eight cylinders roared.

"Success!" Rick laughed. "Let's take it for a ride."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you SA Elizabeth and Merrymatryoshka for the reviews. **

Kyle started the red sports car and gently eased it out of the garage and into the driveway. Rick laid back in the leather seat as they pulled onto the dirt road.

"Where can I go?" Kyle asked.

"First, lets go downtown and get some gas, I only put a gallon or two in it earlier."

"Okay." The bare wetland rolled by until hitting the main street. Kyle gave the car a little gas on the straightaways.

"Don't get us pulled over."

"I know where all of the cops hide."

"Good. But if you do get pulled over, tell them your neighbor called and said your horses got out. Cops from around here don't get that excuse often and they'll believe you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I used that excuse all through high school and college. I think I only got one ticket, apparently other people started to use my excuse." They stopped at the gas station and Rick waited while Kyle filled the car. After a hour of riding through Miami they drove back out to Rick's place.

000000

"I don't want to ride a horse."

"You will like it. It's fun." Rick argued with him as he threw a saddle over a tall sorrel's back.

"How do you know?"

"Because, there's something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Rick quoted.

"Didn't Winston Churchill say that?"

"Ronald Reagan."

"No, I'm pretty sure Reagan stole that."

"I'm just glad you know who Churchill was. Next I'll be teaching you about good music."

"No old crap."

"I know some of it does suck. Music didn't get good until Def Leppard and Johnny Cash came around." He put a saddle on a broad buckskin paint. "Elton John was one of my favorites as a kid."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He slipped the bridles over the heads of the horses. His husky mutt barked and twirled in circles until she fell over. "Now come here and get on this horse." Rick said. Kyle swallowed a little and stood beside the sorrel.

"Why do I get the taller horse?"

"This is Luke, and he is gentlest one on the farm. He's never had a mean thought in his head." He helped Kyle up into the saddle and got him situated. He swung up onto the paint and started to walk. Luke followed along.

"Where are we going?"

"Around the property, and out into the glades. We can turn back whenever you want to."

"Okay." Kyle nodded. The dogs barked and bounded ahead into the woods. He watched them kick up dust; ther hadn't been rain for probably two weeks or more.

"What are you going to do after school?" Rick asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Career wise? I'm not sure yet."

"Criminal justice?"

"No. I have seen what those kind of jobs do to people."

"I see your point." he nodded. They left Rick's property and weaved through the woods between his property and the neighbor's. A field with a few cows came into view. The large creatures raised their heads and watched the pair of riders and the dogs pass by. "They raise the cows and slaughter them before winter. They always give me some of the meat." Rick commented.

"Who was Marisol?" Kyle asked after a few minutes.

"Your dad didn't tell you?"

"No, I've just seen pictures of her."

"She was your dad's wife for a little while. She was also Eric's sister."

"What happened to her?"

"She was shot."

"Who shot her?"

"Memmo Fierro. And I have wanted to tell you, he escaped from prison. You need to watch out for yourself."

"I hate who my father is. I am constantly in danger." Kyle fumed.

"I know."

"What can I do about it?"

"If I were you, I would move out of state somewhere. You should be okay then, as long as the mob isn't looking for you."

"It's not possible to run from the mob is it?"

"Not really. Ask Ryan Wolfe."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know what he'll tell you."

"Would he be upset?"

"Probably."

"What did he do?"

"He owed money or something. It was quite an ordeal." A wind blew across the glades and blew back the horses' manes. "Smells like rain," Rick commented.

"Well it's about time."

"I know." They came to a clearing and could see the sea. A large dark cloud loomed over the horizon. "Do you mind getting caught in the rain?"

"Not really."

"Good, we might. Let's take the shorter loop home." He turned his horse and they found the road.

"How much farther?"

"Why? Are you sore?"

"No, I'm just wondering."

"Okay."


End file.
